A Week Off

I sewed every day.

We are hiding inside because of near 100' heat all week and smoke from the wild fires trapped in the Willamette valley.

I knew it would be hot when I started  my vacation time. Perfect for doing my liver cleanse and sewing. My biggest plan was to sew in the cooler mornings and list items for sale in my etsy shops in the hotter (damp & sticky) afternoons.

  We still don't have the (orange) Piper J-5 airplane flying. Hubby is still dorking around on this and that. But look, They both fit inside the hangar. Our other airplane is a Stearman biplane.

 I had a little time before my hair appointment to take photos of the dahlia fields.
1:30pm and my iphone still takes awesome photos.

Yes, I managed to get my hair cut (not since october!) and I got in on someone else's cancellation to the dentist as well.

I usually set up my dental appt about 9 months out and hope for the best. My work schedule changes so frequently, I finally make it on the fourth cancellation. My dentist's crew know where I work and they will try and fit me in until an appointment 'sticks'.

Somehow, I don't think you should try this with your hairdresser. I needed a haircut back in April and here it is - September. Six inches gone.

I tried out some online selling places and was successful with my old Riccar. So nice to see it go to a good home. And clean out my garage a little. This machine does an awesome straight stitch but I have two others that do the same. I might still sell my Singer Stylist as I have my grandma's old Singer 301.
Not right now. The stylist sits in a nice cabinet with I put in the bedroom for a place to set down stuff.

So - what did I sew? A new pair of work shorts with all the topstitching and pockets. A lot of lipsense bags and a custom order of a doTERRA essential oil bag. I also finished two UFO's and working on a third.

I also listed a crazy amount of stuff for etsy but there is still a mountain in my garage that needs to be listed as well.

How did my liver cleanse go? Well - I'm finishing it up now. Basically, it was an elimination diet of anything with allergens and five days of being a vegetarian. No chocolate (sugar) and no coffee.

I failed.
On the chocolate.

I made it to Saturday -- about 10 days in and caved.

I disliked being vegetarian. Mostly because I can't eat beans (legumes - big allergen) and I can only tolerate rice once or twice a month. A lot of my allergens, I can tolerate in small doses but the effects accumulate and I can get really non-functonal fast. I can eat some nuts but they don't really get digested with my small intestine not behaving well.

There's a surprising amount of protein in dark leafy greens - which I juice. Each glass of green juice probably contains at least 8 grams of protein and I drank green juice 2 -3 times a day.

I was also taking  a product based on pea protein and I was reacting to that as well.

However, all the extra B-vitamins? Tremendous mental acuity and focus.
I didn't peter out around 2 or 3pm. I was good at the beginning about eating more to keep (chocolate) cravings at bay but slacked off if I got the wee bit busy.

If I do this again, and I will, I will skip the product and go straight to a liver cleanse without pea protein.

I had high hopes this cleanse would clear up some skin issues (yet another symptom of not getting enough nutrients because of my small intestine). Some cleared but the rest are still there. Less stress (no daily smack-down) helped.

My eyes seem to be clearer. Rested.

  My niece recently moved back to the area from living in Singapore, so I went and visited on Saturday. So much fun to see my practice grand-kids! The girls still remembered me and had to show me e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

I stopped at Ikea on my way and this button rug continues to taunt me. If I had a place for a white rug. I get so tempted to just buy it and stash it but I don't need more clutter.

I also took care of some clutter piles around the house. Bundles dropped with good intentions.

I cleaned the inside of my car after living out of it the past year, or so.

And I got my laser printer back printing after a year. It stopped working when we had a power outage and it took a year in the time-out closet for me to get up the time to sit down and uninstall and reinstall, fingers crossed, and it worked. Big smile.

When Oregonians Travel To Sweden

I thought I would introduce you to how we travel.

I'm one of the few people I know who knows where all the fabric stores are in Maui. Other people stay at the resorts and soak up the sun and the MaiTai's, but I freckle and there are days when I cannot spend all day in the sun. The answer to how much rum one can drink has been answered but how much fabric one can stuff in her suitcase has not.

My husband has been a good sport about these non-touristy explorations. When I went to Ireland a few years back with my little sister, we stayed at a hotel right next to the Sewing & Knitting show in Dublin. I booked the hotel because it was near the show, which, coincidentally was during the time of our visit.

Our upcoming trip to Sweden & Finland is based on - 30 years ago, I was an exchange student to Finland. Last year, at my high school reunion, I realized I am never going to have the money to go back and I needed to figure out a Visa moment.

My friends there are finally on the internet  more (very expensive for personal use) and I have a plan of staying with one friend at the beginning (Goteberg) and another at the end (Helsinki).

After months of planning (dang airline travel sites), my husband finally jumped on board. He's going, but he was making me crazy with his non-involvement.

He has decided he wants to look up Stearman owners.

Turns out the guy who owns one near Stockholm has a camera mounted on his wing and has a ton of video on Youtube (look up  Kenneth Öhrn and Stearman).
He sounds fun and since I've seen all the sights to see in Sweden, barring the new museum dedicated to ABBA, I say, let's go vacation flying.

I'll get payback when my sole reason to visit Rovaniemi, north of the Arctic Circle and home to Santa Claus (joulupukki), is to visit the Ottobre store. Serious women's sewing design patterns.

Here's a Stearman flying in Sweden:

And another vid:



And because we wonder how much avgas costs in Sweden. . .

Clear Lake

Happy 4th of July everyone!

My husband and I drove down to Clear Lake today. We could have driven down to my brother's place at Rockaway Beach but our daughter was taking some friends down there and it was agreed that we could possibly cramp her style. Whatever.
So- we came up with an alternate plan of fishing Clear Lake. Just a couple of hours away, it turned out to be a particularly beautiful summer day. This lake is just past Detroit Reservoir - just on the other side of the mountains.
Gorgeous views of the Three Sisters and Three-Fingered Jack were our gift. That's about when I recalled - oh,oh - the camera. I had forgotten to even think about it as we drove up Hwy 22 through the forest with the river alongside us. When we reached Detroit Dam and the reservoir opened out - we were still enjoying the drive. But when the mountains appeared, that's when I remembered the camera.
But if we had brought the camera, we would not have been entertained all day with the pair of eagles fishing for their nestlings. It would have been hotter than 75' (just perfect!). And -- this is the big one -- we would not have caught any fish. Isn't that the way?

Clear Lake has a campground which we have stayed in many times. The especial times we have had there are part of our family time. This lake is special to me because there are no motorboats allowed - no jet-skis, no noise other than oarlocks creaking as you row you boat.
Not to mention the ducks dive bombing each other over presumed territory infringement.

There were other women rowing, besides me,who preferred to row looking ahead.
Trust me - you get a lot of practice and it doesn't take long to find your mojo.

We fished using Powerbait in neon yellow/pink. We caught our limit of both fish and sunburns.